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CompletedNCT02093078Updated Sep 7, 2018

Cognitive Aids With Roles Defined (CARD) for Obstetrical Crises: A Multisite Cohort Study

An observational study in Obstetrical Emergency Situations, sponsored by Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Completed at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-09-07.

Sponsored by Ottawa Hospital Research Institute · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
346
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Crisis resource management represents the set of non technical skills, such as communication, leadership, delegation, and prioritization, that allow effective teamwork for optimal patient care during an urgent and critical situation. The Cognitive Aids with Roles Defined (CARD) is a new concept of cognitive aid addressing the well-documented issue of teamwork in crisis management. It relies on large identification cards specially designed for each team members profession and role. During a life threatening clinical situation, the CARD protocol focuses on clarification of individual roles and distribution of tasks for crisis management rather than creating an additional algorithm identifying either a list of actions to be taken or the dose of a medication. This study aims to evaluate the clinical impact of introducing the CARD protocol in obstetrical emergency situations ("code 333") in clinical practice at The Ottawa Hospital.

Hypothesis: CARD protocol will: (i) decrease the total time taken to deliver the baby, and (ii) improve clinical outcome for the mother and baby compared to traditional management without the CARD protocol.

Read the detailed description

The CARD protocol offers an innovative yet simple solution to the barriers in crisis management that the literature has already identified. The study is part of a research program investigating strategies to improve crisis management. After completing several simulation studies on cognitive aids, crisis management debriefing, and a pilot CARD study, the investigators aim to explore and investigate the impact of an intervention on patient care.

The concept of a self-organizing team with explicitly defined roles may enhance patient safety. The CARD approach to crisis management is relevant to a broad number of situations, disciplines, and professions. The CARD protocol is easily exportable to any critical situation including intra-hospital arrest, trauma, or critical care patients. The concept of a self-organizing team with defined roles may ultimately enhance patient safety.

The investigators anticipate that their proposal will challenge the traditional way of thinking about cognitive aid, and may advance the theory in the two fields of cognitive aid and team work for crisis management.

The CARD cards with their associated roles and list of tasks will be specifically designed for code 333. In the 'baseline' phase, a research assistant will review Birthing Unit records daily to determine if a code 333 had been called in the preceding 24 hours. Outcome measures will be collected to establish baseline team performance. In order to account for the 'team training effect' and identify the 'CARD effect', both groups will receive didactic and simulation crisis management teaching, but training at the "case site" will include CARD teaching while the contemporaneous "control site" will receive team training without CARD. After the training period at both sites, CARD will be implemented at the "case sight" for code 333s while the "control site" will continue without CARD. Maternal and neonatal outcomes as well as team performance (times to delivery) will continue to be prospectively collected throughout.

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Conditions studied

  • Obstetrical Emergency Situations

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03

In context

Emergencies

1,692 studies on the registry are indexed under Emergencies; 333 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 346 is close to the median of 353 across 714 observational studies indexed under Emergencies.

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Lead sponsor

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is the lead sponsor of 538 studies on the registry; 100 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Twelve obstetrical unit teams (4 registered nurses (RN), 1 operating room attendant, 1 respiratory therapist (RT) assisting anesthesia, 1 RT assisting neonatal, 2 neonatal RNs) will be recruited for the study

Inclusion criteria

  • must hold a staff position at The Ottawa Hospital (Civic or General campus) in one of the following positions:

    1. registered nurses (RN)
    2. operating room attendant
    3. respiratory therapist (RT)
    4. assisting anesthesia
    5. RT assisting neonatal
    6. neonatal RNs

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • not a staff member at The Ottawa Hospital (Civic or General campus)
  • holding a position that is different from any of the following: registered nurse, operating room attendant, respiratory therapist, assisting anesthesia, RT assisting neonatal, neonatal RN
  • investigators involved in the study
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
346 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • CARD

    Intervention: CARD This group will be introduced to the CARD protocol which focuses on clarification of individual roles and distribution of tasks. It relies on large identification cards specially designed for each team member's profession and role. Each card worn by a team member identifies the specific tasks associated with that individual's role. CARD enables the team leader and other team members to quickly recognize everyone's role at the code, and each team member can commence their assigned tasks without delay.

    Behavioral: CARD

  • Control Arm

Interventions

  • BehavioralCARD

    Intervention: CARD This group will be introduced to the CARD protocol which focuses on clarification of individual roles and distribution of tasks. It relies on large identification cards specially designed for each team member's profession and role. Each card worn by a team member identifies the specific tasks associated with that individual's role. CARD enables the team leader and other team members to quickly recognize everyone's role at the code, and each team member can commence their assigned tasks without delay.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Total Time to Delivery After a Code 333

    The primary outcome measure is the exact time from when the code 333 is called, to the time of delivery (up to 1 day).

    Time frame: from the time of calling in a code 333 to the time of birth (up to 1 day).

Secondary outcomes

  1. standard clinical outcomes on patient charts

    The clinical outcomes on patient charts include: Baby's status: 1. Apgar score, at 1 and 5 minutes 2. Arterial potential hydrogen (pH) of the cord at birth 3. Unplanned admission to intensive care for the baby 4. Infant status at 1 hour of age 5. Length of stay of the baby in hospital 6. Mortality Mother clinical outcomes: 1. Unplanned admission to ICU for the mother 2. Length of stay of the mother in hospital 3. Mortality

    Time frame: participants will be followed from when the code 333 was called until hospital discharge or mortality, whichever comes first (up to 3 years).

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Study locations

1 site
  • The Ottawa Hospital
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 7, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02093078
Lead sponsor
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Collaborators
Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society, The Ottawa Hospital Academic Medical Association
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 20, 2014
Start date
Jan 2014
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2017
Completion
Dec 31, 2017
Last update
Sep 7, 2018

Study contacts

Sylvain Boet, MD
principal investigator · The Ottawa Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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